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Zach wrote:Call me crazy, but I just do not see the Orioles signing this guy regardless of what we might wish. The trend with the Orioles in the International market has been to take guys that no one else is going after. This is going to be a bidding war that I don't see us seriously participating in.

I agree with your totally and at that price tag: buyer beware

I see Cespedes and Soler as MUCH better risks than Fielder or Jackson. Of course, there's always the chance that an investment turns out badly but with those two there's a potential better return for the money.

You really need to give this Cespedes/Soler thing a rest. Neither are coming here anyways and for that I'm very thankful

The Marlins, Cubs, White Sox, Orioles, and Tigers are five of the six clubs that have been in serious talks with Cespedes, reports ESPN's Jim Bowden

Baseball America's Jim Callis said he would rank Cespedes in the 7-15 range of their top 100 prospects list, and that he would take over as the top prospect of pretty much any team that signs him.

Yoenis Cespedes has been declared a free agent by MLB, paving the way for him to sign with a team. Of the clubs believed to have the most interest in him, are there any for which he wouldn't be their top prospect once he signs? The Blue Jays, Cubs, Marlins, Phillies, Tigers, White Sox and Yankees seem to be the teams mentioned the most on his trail.

J.P. Schwartz Springfield, Ill.

Cespedes would be an easy No. 1 prospect for any of the teams that J.P. mentioned. On my personal list of the game's Top 50 Prospects in the Prospect Handbook, the first No. 1 prospect from those clubs was Tigers righthander Jacob Turner at No. 23. The others to make it were Blue Jays catcher Travis d'Arnaud (No. 26), Cubs outfielder Brett Jackson (No. 28), Marlins outfielder Christian Yelich (No. 33) and Yankees lefthander Manny Banuelos (No. 38), while righthanders Trevor May (Phillies) and Addison Reed (White Sox) missed the cut.

If Cespedes had signed, he would have ranked somewhere in the 10-15 range on my list. The only systems in which he wouldn't be a slam-dunk No. 1 would be the Angels (Trout), Rays (Moore), Nationals (Harper), Rangers (Darvish), Mariners (Jesus Montero) and Orioles (Manny Machado).

The Marlins, Cubs, White Sox, Orioles, and Tigers are five of the six clubs that have been in serious talks with Cespedes, reports ESPN's Jim Bowden

Baseball America's Jim Callis said he would rank Cespedes in the 7-15 range of their top 100 prospects list, and that he would take over as the top prospect of pretty much any team that signs him.

Stop dreaming .. he's headed for the Marlins from what I understand ...

Yoenis Cespedes has been declared a free agent by MLB, paving the way for him to sign with a team. Of the clubs believed to have the most interest in him, are there any for which he wouldn't be their top prospect once he signs? The Blue Jays, Cubs, Marlins, Phillies, Tigers, White Sox and Yankees seem to be the teams mentioned the most on his trail.

J.P. SchwartzSpringfield, Ill.

Cespedes would be an easy No. 1 prospect for any of the teams that J.P. mentioned. On my personal list of the game's Top 50 Prospects in the Prospect Handbook, the first No. 1 prospect from those clubs was Tigers righthander Jacob Turner at No. 23. The others to make it were Blue Jays catcher Travis d'Arnaud (No. 26), Cubs outfielder Brett Jackson (No. 28), Marlins outfielder Christian Yelich (No. 33) and Yankees lefthander Manny Banuelos (No. 38), while righthanders Trevor May (Phillies) and Addison Reed (White Sox) missed the cut.

If Cespedes had signed, he would have ranked somewhere in the 10-15 range on my list. The only systems in which he wouldn't be a slam-dunk No. 1 would be the Angels (Trout), Rays (Moore), Nationals (Harper), Rangers (Darvish), Mariners (Jesus Montero) and Orioles (Manny Machado).

The Marlins, Cubs, White Sox, Orioles, and Tigers are five of the six clubs that have been in serious talks with Cespedes, reports ESPN's Jim Bowden

Baseball America's Jim Callis said he would rank Cespedes in the 7-15 range of their top 100 prospects list, and that he would take over as the top prospect of pretty much any team that signs him.

Stop dreaming .. he's headed for the Marlins from what I understand ...

Yoenis Cespedes has been declared a free agent by MLB, paving the way for him to sign with a team. Of the clubs believed to have the most interest in him, are there any for which he wouldn't be their top prospect once he signs? The Blue Jays, Cubs, Marlins, Phillies, Tigers, White Sox and Yankees seem to be the teams mentioned the most on his trail.

J.P. SchwartzSpringfield, Ill.

Cespedes would be an easy No. 1 prospect for any of the teams that J.P. mentioned. On my personal list of the game's Top 50 Prospects in the Prospect Handbook, the first No. 1 prospect from those clubs was Tigers righthander Jacob Turner at No. 23. The others to make it were Blue Jays catcher Travis d'Arnaud (No. 26), Cubs outfielder Brett Jackson (No. 28), Marlins outfielder Christian Yelich (No. 33) and Yankees lefthander Manny Banuelos (No. 38), while righthanders Trevor May (Phillies) and Addison Reed (White Sox) missed the cut.

If Cespedes had signed, he would have ranked somewhere in the 10-15 range on my list. The only systems in which he wouldn't be a slam-dunk No. 1 would be the Angels (Trout), Rays (Moore), Nationals (Harper), Rangers (Darvish), Mariners (Jesus Montero) and Orioles (Manny Machado).

Matt P wrote:Could one sign both Soler and Concepcion for the money it would take to sign Cespedes?

Maybe, but I think this organization has no excuse for making a legitimate offer to Cespedes, too. We dropped over 40M in payroll this winter and added about 10M plus arbitration raises. That means we had over 20M in payroll savings this year alone which could be used to sign these guys.

Even if we gave all three of them a combined 15M in bonuses (plus a ML salary of another 8M a year) there is plenty of room in the budget to do this and would give us FIVE of the top 100 prospects in the game. THAT'S how you rebuild a farm system and build a winner.

Cespedes is 26 yrs old I beleive. So his money would not count against the CBA regarding international players >23. I question his ability to hit anything other than a fastball. I think he is extremely risky. No doubt he is a freakish athelete, but that doesn't translate to a major league ball player. At his age its not fair to stick him in AA or AAA for the next 1-2 years.

We need a clean up hitter and legit starters worse than we need this guy. Let the Marlins waste there money. If the Orioles were not so far away and could stand to waste the money on a gamble I'd say sign him but that's not the case.

dan72 wrote:Cespedes is 26 yrs old I beleive. So his money would not count against the CBA regarding international players >23. I question his ability to hit anything other than a fastball. I think he is extremely risky. No doubt he is a freakish athelete, but that doesn't translate to a major league ball player. At his age its not fair to stick him in AA or AAA for the next 1-2 years.

We need a clean up hitter and legit starters worse than we need this guy. Let the Marlins waste there money. If the Orioles were not so far away and could stand to waste the money on a gamble I'd say sign him but that's not the case.